Rob Kingrey | | |
By GLENDA CAUDLE
Special Features Editor
Rob Kingrey brings a wealth of experience to his job as director of facilities and exhibits at Discovery Park of America.
He has been promotion manager for Mercury/Poly-gram Records, Nashville, Charlotte, Cleveland; national director of promotion for Core Records, Nashville; account executive and project manager for 1220 Exhibits exhibit builders in Nashville and Nth Degree Global Event Management in Stone Mountain, Ga.; general manager for Exhibit Success exhibit builders in Nashville; and a general contractor with Kingrey Construction in Union City.
He knows how to get the public’s attention and hold it. He’s on track to proving just how successfully he can do that at DPA.
When the multi-million dollar 50-acre complex opens in the fall of this year, much of what the public experiences will be his ongoing responsibility and he is excited by the challenge that job description represents.
“This is my dream job. There’s lots of pressure, but I perform well under pressure. It drives my creative and organizational side. Sometimes I don’t realize it is already 8 p.m. when my wife is calling me to ask when I’m coming home,” he says.
His wife is Union City High School teacher Laura (Morgan) Kingrey. They are the parents of Union City Elementary School fifth-grader Amelia Kingrey.
The affable and multi-talented executive is also a musician, playing drums at Union City Second Baptist Church and for Blind Red Rooster blues/rock band in this area. And, in his spare time, he is an Obion County Museum board member.
Hired in January 2012 as exhibits manager for DPA, he assumed responsibility as park building and designer for the project’s various communities a month later and was promoted to his present position at the first of this year.
“My goal is to make everyone’s visit to Discovery Park a truly unique, exciting, educational experience and to make Robert Kirkland’s visions come to life,” he says.
To do that, he must keep his guiding hand, imaginative brain and sharp eyes and ears focused on multiple aspects of the project.
“Time is my biggest challenge,” he says. “I have a lot of architectural responsibilities, as well as working with exhibits, the staff and starting new buildings and tooling from scratch. Most people never realize someone has to design and research every nail, light, paint color for trim and so forth on historic recreation buildings and log cabins.”
Every morning presents a challenge for his creative energy; every evening provides confirmation that it will all be more than worthwhile. He can see it all and it makes Rob Kingrey smile.
Dream jobs just don’t get much better than this.
Glenda Caudle may be contacted by email at glendacaudle@ucmessen ger.com.
Published in The Messenger 5.9.13
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